Monday, January 8, 2024
Finally the time for talk and for witty internet memes drew to a close as it was, at long last . . .
GAME DAY!
The Huskies were going after a third
National Championship in the UW's
storied football history
With Richard Bellman at our monthly
breakfast with fellow retired
Rio Mesa H.S. faculty members
While Richard grew up in Michigan and normally roots for the Wolverines, today he would be a Husky.
You see, his grandson Ty Gilstrap is a University of Washington student who works as a sports writer covering Husky football for the university's student newspaper, The Daily.
I have read a few of his outstanding articles this season and was quite impressed with his writing skills that reminded me of a young David Lassen back in the day.
High praise indeed.
I thought before the game that
the Huskies coach was spot on
The Wolverines running game concerned me as well as their dominant front four on defense.
For Huskies fans, I had gotten to feel that much of the memes and internet comments were becoming more and more whistling in the dark as game time drew nearer.
At about this time, the UW rooting
section arrived at our house
This was the rooting section
Jacob believes that the more Husky gear he wore, the better.
Thus he had on six shirts underneath his purple sweatshirt.
I realized quickly how much I had missed his company during the UW-Texas Sugar Bowl game last Monday night while I was in quarantine.
Forty-five+ years of Husky memorabilia
were on display to help summon
all of the Dawgs Mojo that we could
Jacob added two pairs of Husky
socks at the last second to help
spur the Huskies on to victory
Steve Emtman, on the far left, joined
the Husky Captains for the coin flip
First, he still looks massively bigger than any of the captains, even in his street clothes at 53 years of age.
Emtman was the star of the 1991 Husky team that finished 12-0 and were Co-National Champions with the also 12-0 Miami Hurricanes.
During that 1991 season he was a unanimous First Team All-American and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting, highly unusual for a Defensive End.
He also won several other accolades that year including the Outland Trophy, the Lombardi Trophy, the Bill Willis Trophy, UPI's National Lineman-of-the-Year Award and was named the PAC-10 Defensive Player-of-the-Year for the second straight season.
He would be the first player selected in the 1992 NFL Draft going to the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately, injuries cut short his promising professional career.
In 2006, Emtman deservedly entered the College Football Hall of Fame.
But I digress. We had a game to play.
Michigan came to play!
Wolverines RB Donovan Edwards
had two First Quarter TDs that
covered 41 and 46 yards
He would finish the night with six carries for 104 yards, an average of a whopping 17.3 yards/carry.
This was definitely not good for our beloved Huskies.
At the Halftime intermission, Michigan led 17-10.
While the score was obviously close, it still felt like Michigan was in complete control.
The UW's hopes rested on the magical
left arm of QB Michael Penix, Jr.
Unfortunately, both Penix and his stable of excellent wide receivers were just a bit off all game long making victory extremely difficult.
The Wolverines RB Blake Corum also
rushed for two TDs and 134 yards
The stats told the story
The Huskies had 301 yards of Total Offense.
Michigan had 303 yards Rushing alone.
The Wolverines also won the turnover battle, 2-0.
In my opinion, the better team won
by a comfortable three TDs
DAMN, I hate when that happens.
Michigan rightfully earned the
National Championship this night
This is exactly how the game felt
HAIL TO THE
VICTORS VALIANT!
The 14-1, 2023 season will indeed
be remembered for a long, long time
The Huskies reeled off 14 mostly nail biting wins while winning the final PAC-12 Championship in history and also earning the 2024 Sugar Bowl crown with the win over Texas.
All members of Husky Nation walked a little taller this season thanks to the exploits of this pack of Huskies. THANK YOU!
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